


i regret everything i did in seventh grade

by playbills



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: M/M, Seblos, carlos will fuck a bitch up for seb, inspired by a tumblr post, trigger warning: black eye, trigger warning: bullying, trigger warning: violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22281907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playbills/pseuds/playbills
Summary: seb could pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with carlos rodriguez. it was seventh grade, the worst year of his life. which also happened to be the first year he went to public school, having been homeschooled on the farm with his siblings up until that point.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	i regret everything i did in seventh grade

**Author's Note:**

> this is inspired by tumblr user smoothcarlos's post about someone bullying seb and carlos punching them cause he's carlos. there are depictions of fighting, black eyes, and bullying in this fic. it takes place pre- and post- canon series.

seb could pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with carlos rodriguez. it was seventh grade, the worst year of his life. which also happened to be the first year he went to public school, having been homeschooled on the farm with his siblings up until that point. school was supposed to be fun, his mom had told him. he was supposed to make friends. 

instead, he got himself shoved into lockers on the fourth day. 

it was some eighth grader with a haircut that he remembered was way too close to making him look like he was in the army, who smelled like axe and teenage angst, in the worst way possible. seb has remembered thinking how much worse school smelled in comparison to the farm, which was saying something, since he spent most of his time at the farm surrounded by cows. but teenage boys smelled worse.

seb had worn his favorite pink checkered shirt, and had put on blush for the first time in his life. he had convinced his mom to let him buy some for the new year, because he knew all his sisters used it and he wanted to look as pretty as they did. he had remembered being so happy about wearing such a nice outfit. he remembered some kids making fun of him as he walked down the hall, clutching that stack of books to his chest. he remembered the realization that they were laughing at him, at the pink shirt, at the blush. everything he had been so excited about disappeared in an instant and he remembered the feeling of tears spilling from his eyes.

he remembered hating that feeling.

the memory is as clear as if it had happened just a day ago, although it was about four years now since one of the eighth graders had shoved him into the bank of lockers with a loud laugh. seb just crumpled in on himself, falling to the floor like a fragile doll shattered into a million pieces. his books went scattered across the floor, but he didn’t go after them. he pulled his knees up to his chest and hoped that if he just stayed there, everyone would leave him alone. and they did, or at least they didn’t push him again. but that had less to do with his defensive stance and more with the yell that came from the other direction.

“hey!” seb didn’t look up when he heard it, but now he knew that voice all too well. he heard it every day in rehearsal. “lay off him, why don’t you!” seb barely glanced across the hall to catch a taller boy with dark hair and crooked glasses in a sweater that was just a tad too big for his beanpole physique so that the tiger across his seemed to hang from his shoulders. “he didn’t do anything to you!” the tiger wearing boy continued, making his way toward seb’s tormentor. 

“he’s dressing like a girl, rodriguez. although im sure that’s just the loser you’d be into, huh?” tiger-wearing boy didn’t stop his momentum at this comment. instead, he made his way to the eighth grader and promptly punched him in the jaw. judging by the size of tiger-boy, it couldn’t have been that hard a punch, but it was enough to earn him one in response, and a shove to the ground. it wasn’t so much of a fight as it was a beating of the poor boy who had tried to stand up for seb, and in any case it was broken up in less than a few seconds by a bombardment of teachers.

the boy didn’t say anything to seb when they were being led to the nurses office, and simply stared at his hands as they waited outside. his glasses were askew on his nose, and a purple hue was forming behind one of the lenses. seb just snuck silent glances at him from moment to moment, wanting to say something, thank him for stepping up. 

he said nothing.

…

they were sophomores, carlos and himself, and at the moment sitting on the floor of the bomb shelter rehearsal space next to the piano. or carlos was on the floor, seb was still sitting at the piano bench, watching his boyfriend moving seventeen labeled pennies around a badly drawn stage as he tested blocking ideas. seb was providing background music for him to work to. 

humming absently to himself, seb began to play the opening riff of candy store. he heard a groan from the floor and glanced over.

“you can’t play heathers, it’ll give me flashbacks to seventh grade. i thought i’d be heather chandler.” seb couldn’t help but laugh at the comment.

“oh, love, we all did at some point.” even though it had been weeks of going steady, there was always some nervousness in calling carlos something such as “love” or “darling”. but carlos never had any problem calling him “baby” or “honey”, so why should he be nervous?

“yeah, but you could actually hit those notes. i was just an embarrassment,” carlos said, leaning back on his hands. “seriously, i regret everything i did in seventh grade.” 

“everything?” 

“seb, i had a glee tumblr. yes, i regret everything.” seb stayed quiet for a second, staring down at his hands. 

“even taking a punch for a weird queer kid who you’d spoken to before?” now it was carlos’ turn to be quiet.

“you remember that?” carlos pulled himself up from the floor, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

“it was sort of the most traumatizing moment of my life until that point. except maybe the time i got kicked in the head by a cow.” carlos laughed, before realizing seb was being totally serious about the cow thing. he stared incredelously at seb for a moment, tilting his head as if to ask ifhe should be more concerned about the comment. “don’t worry, i’m fine.” carlos nodded, but seemed less put at ease somehow. the blonde sophomore scooted over on the bench, making room for carlos to plop into it tiredly next to him. 

“that was probably a bit too strong of a way to come onto someone i thought was cute, huh?” carlos stared down at his hands, and seb could only imagine he was replaying the same things he was in his head. “getting into a fight for you.”

“i never thanked you for standing up for me.” seb’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. it was enough to raise carlos’ head again and meet his boyfriend’s eyes. “you were like my knight in shining armor.” that garnered a laugh from the taller boy, who playfully shoved seb with his shoulder.

“hardly. i think i had the bmi of a literal beanpole. and the charisma of one too.”

“at least you grew into that tiger sweater.” another bout of laughter between the two boys. 

“oh god, i think i still own that one. i should burn in.” seb laughed again, gently putting one hand onto carlos’ thigh as he leaned against the other boy. carlos, unbeknowest to seb, short circuited a little bit at his touch. just a little. there was a comfortable silence that hung over them, and for the moment seb felt he was back in the nurses office, sitting silently next to the unnamed tiger sweater kid. he glanced over at carlos’ face, which had matured plenty since seventh grade and looked even more beautiful than he remembered it every time he looked. seb could imagine the bruise forming under his eye, the way his glasses leaned to the left on his nose. even now, they were still crooked. seb reached up gently, and pushed the glasses up on carlos’s nose.

“why did you do it?” seb asked after a moment, his fingers still resting on the edge of carlos’s glasses, grazing the side of carlos’ face.

“what?” carlos cocked one eyebrow at seb.

“it wasn’t just cause you thought i was cute, because i was wearing a button down and a vest. and there’s no way anyone thought that was cute.” 

carlos laughed. “well, first of all, you were cute.” seb could feel a reddness rising in his cheeks and turned away from carlos, attempting to hide his face in his hands, it did not work, mostly because carlos had taken one of his hands into his own. “and it was… i had been bullied for all of sixth geade. kids aren’t exactly nice to the queer eccentric kid who takes everything too seriously. and…” he paused, and seb carefully released carlos’ hand, instead reaching up to cup his cheek. “i didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with that. it was miserable for me, but i was used to it. and you looked so innocent and sweet and- i just didn’t want someone else to have to go through that.” seb could feel tears threatening to spill from his eyes, as he ran his thumb back and forth against carlos’ skin. “i didn’t want someone else to feel like that. especially not you.” 

“so you took a punch for me?”

“i think if you’ll recall, i threw a pretty decent punch first.” seb laughed, and felt a tear from carlos’ eye hit the top of his thumb. “but what’s one black eye to make sure someone else doesn’t have to get their first?” carlos’ eyes were glistening as he met the other boy’s piercing blue ones, and seb knew he probably didn’t look too dissimilar at the moment.

“thank you,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against carlos’. “since i couldn’t get the nerve to back then.” carlos didn’t say anything else, simply leaning in to meet seb’s lips. seb kept his hand on carlos’ cheek, the other making its way to his waist as he felt carlos’ hand holding the back of his neck. seb could feel that warmth in his chest, the good kind of butterflies in his stomach that he still got every time they kissed. 

when he finally pulled away, seb could see a smile on carlos’ face similar to the one he felt on his own. there was just a moment of the two of them, together on the bench, just holding each other. 

“hey, just so you know,” carlos finally said, pulling away enough to take in the absolute cutest human ever who happened to be his boyfriend. “i’d still beat up a bitch for you. any day.” 

seb laughed again, and pulled carlos back into a tight hug. “and they say chivalry is dead.” instead of a hug, carlos brought seb’s face back to his, kissing him again. if all of the insults and bullies and lunches alone had meant they could end up with this, maybe it had all been worth it.  
and afr all, they still had a few minutes before rehearsal started anyways.


End file.
